ADS L620 vs. New Large Advent

vinylviola

Well-Known Member
Being forced to choose between the two speakers (space considerations:no:)
these two speakers draw immediate comparison:

Almost identical proportions. The similarity in the enclosure space is the sort of control that a proper science experiment should have :D

Both speakers are two-way. The woofer in the Advent has an obvious advantage - being 12" instead of the ADS' 10"

The ADS' tweeter is a soft dome, the Advent has a red fried egg tweeter.

Both speakers are A/B-ed through a Marantz 2235B. (Sitting atop to-do project no. 431C plywood box KLH 6.) I had my choice of a Pioneer or Yamaha, but I've always enjoyed how the Advent's highs are smoothed out and feel more palatable through the Marantz.

Here's the playlist:

James Brown - 20 All-Time Greatest Hits "Get on the Good Foot"
Beck - The Information "1000 BPM"
Edgar Meyer - Bach, Suite No. 1 in G major "Gigue"
Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty "Super Disco Breakin'"
Andrew Bird - Weather Systems "Skin"
The Clash - London Calling "Spanish Bombs"
Vince Guaraldi Trio - Charlie Brown Christmas "Skating"
Four Tet - Rounds "My Angel Rocks Back and Forth"
Rudolph Serkin - Beethoven, piano concerto no. 4 "Allegro Moderato"
B.B. King - Greatest Hits "The Thrill is Gone"

As per my last shoot-out, (A-25, EPI 100, AR-4x) it took a couple of songs to get a general sense of each speaker's character; strength and weaknesses.

My initial reaction was to enjoy the ADS' much smoother, more refined mids and highs. The Advent felt more abrasive and even shrill at times during James Brown's squealing.
The mids in the ADS felt fuller, as well. With the Advent, one thing I've always noticed is a hole in the middle range. The bass is punchy, tight and crisp, and the highs are brilliant, leaving other comparable speakers to feel more rounded/proportional from top to bottom. Of course a great deal of ADS' even range is the considerably closer placement of the tweeter to the woofer, as opposed to the Advent, resulting in a much different sonic impression by the ear? (This is the extent of my scientific reasoning.:D)

Moving from James Brown to Beck (jumping 40 years of recording technology) certainly brought different aspects of the speakers' capabilities. This particular track features a lot of electronic bleeps and boops layered on top of vocals, so transparency, as well as their range would be obvious. Again, ADS was more palatable, but I begin to notice the loss of "sizzle" in many of these recordings.

Edgar Meyer's recording of three of the Bach cello suites is particularly unique because they are done on double bass. Its a particular favorite recording of mine, not only because of Mr. Meyer's incredible musicianship, but instrumental colors and range is so wide.

This was the first place where the Advents really outshone the ADS. The Advents gave me a sense of standing in the studio with the musician, practically feeling the air move and hearing the minute differences in his articulations. This would be true for all of the jazz, classical and acoustic sources I chose to sample.
The ADS, being its more rounded, subdued self ended up feeling more distant from the source, without the sort of 'pop' in the sound.

The sense of articulation with the Advents ended up being a real constant. With any acoustic, live or vocal source the Advents just shone, making you feel as though you were right there. The ADS' began to feel more constrained in their sonic possibilities.

The bass on the Advents, always a calling card, was a remarkable difference from the ADS. Likely owing more to the increased woofer size, but the punchiness and clarity of the Advent's lower range was terrific.

As mentioned earlier, the highs on the Advents were often too much of a good thing, particularly on busier recordings, or whenever Jimmy Page decides to step on the overdrive pedal. The incredible response of the tweeter is certainly the same thing that makes acoustic and live music seem so present, but with a lot of louder, out of control tracks (The Clash, Beastie Boys) my close(ish) range to the speakers made it hard to tolerate. ADS were far more accommodating in this arena.

Deciding also to test the ambient effect of each speaker, I would listen to part of tracks and walk throughout the room, as I am often struck by the capabilities of certain speakers when I hear them from an unusual place in the room (doing dishes, at my desk, etc.)

The ADS actually didn't seem to lose much of its characteristics if I was right in their path of destruction, or 10 feet away and off to the side. Bass didn't increase, but they did feel muddy after a while.

The Advents actually become a much more 'natural' speaker when I'm not right in front of them. The punchy bass evens out (provided I'm not facing into a corner) and outside the dispersion of the tweeters they feel much more natural. If I had the space and the druthers, I would love to hear the Advents more to opposite corners of my room playing a live jazz album.

The verdict:

The ADS', while a fine speaker, (and arguably one of the most indestructible due to rubber woofer surrounds and metal grille) are a little too laid back for my listening tastes. Like my comparison of A-25's and EPI 100's, while the A-25's trumped in their musicality, the EPI was way ahead in its accuracy and discernment. The Advents make everything very clear, while the ADS was more musical, albeit without the Dynaco magic.
There were several different examples of modern-day "layering" engineering on my list (Beck, Four Tet,) where one instrument will be clear, and another will sound as though it's being played out of a shoe box. Finding speakers that can really isolate these effects is really great, and often times catches me by surprise, because I'm not expecting to hear the different instruments pointed out so clearly. The ADS just didn't have the range of coloring or transparency I was expecting, and the Advents were happy to heap on.

Guess I've made my choice. These experiments have been really revealing. There were things about each speaker I wasn't expecting to find, and certainly letting my ears adjust to each speaker took a while before I decided on a preference, but I'm very glad I did this one - aspects of the Advent speaker that I still find harsh from time to time I still found my ear choosing them over a more tempered approach. What sorcery is this? :D

Anyone else ever been able to do this match up? I know there are a lot of ADS more highly regarded than the L620, but none that seemed quite as an appropriate a match-up against the NLA.
 

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Thanks for writeup VV. :yes: I always appreciate when people take the time to publish the results of their comparisons. It is a learning experience for you and for us. :thmbsp:

I have the NLA's and comment on the transparency of their sound. I have run Infinity's, KLH's, Boston Acoustics, and even Bose :)tears:), and while all these aren't the end all of speakers, from what I have heard, I think the NLA's have the least coloration. Wow, was that a run-on sentence or what?

Also, I believe the NLA's have a 10" woofer.

To tame the high's on my NLA, I run the HF switch in the low position. It is plenty enough for me and the high frequencies don't sound so overbearing. Some may think it they must sound really dull, I don't. :no:

Enjoy.
 
Marantz may not be the best match for NLA's. Yamahas and A/D/S?

NLA and Onkyo or Concept? Then mix them up and find the worst combo... :yes:

.
I've yet to find anything that sounds bad paired with my Luxman.

Thanks for an articulate foray.
 
I too find the NLAs a bit harsh on the high end, even with it switched to low. I recently replaced them in a system with L36s because even my wife, who generally says nothing about sound, commented on not liking the sound she heard with the NLAs. We both like the L36s better. I think if I paired it up with my Sansui 7070 I might like them more, but I haven't had a chance yet. BTW, a very nice review.
 
For those of you who find the NLA's too harsh, try playing them through Pete B.'s BSC box. A search will turn it up.
 
I'd bet that Yamaha natural sound stereo equipment matched with ADS would be a very 'polite' and accurate system. Both links are known for their flat response, granted they're still working up to spec.

Given the choice, I'd choose the NLAs also. They probably kick a bit better because of that woofer. Thanks for the writeup.
 
Nice write up, I think you have made a wise choice. Feel free to ship the ADS's to my home. :) I have a set of the smaller L510's (woops I mean L570/2) in the studio right now. They have a nice full sound. I found them on CL and forwarded the ad to a buddy of mine since I have to get rid of some speakers before I look at adding to my slowly growing collection. The L510's (woops once again I mean L570/2) came with matching stands, and the combination of the metal grill's and the mitered corners are damn easy on the eyes, almost as easy as they are on the ears! Someday I'll get my hands on some NLA's, the linen looking grill cloths with the rounded corners just look elegant.
 
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Forgot to mention: the NLA's were switched to 'normal' during this experiment - certainly not to "increase" nor "decrease"

I eyeballed the woofer dimension - if the Advent woofer is a 10", then that would make the ADS an 8". Sorry for the error - either way, the ADS uses a smaller woofer.
 
Thanks for the review. I use a pair of L500's, the original Braun/ADS, in my family room and a stack of Advents, NLA and /1s, in my office. But for the bottom octave they have very similar characteristics. Being an original owner of both I never put them side by side to compare though for fear I might prefer one over the other.
As for the bass response this further demonstrates "there is no replacement for displacement". The Advent 10" woofer is far superior to an 8".
 
Great review, VV!

I agree with your impression of the L-620. I used to own them and a pair of L-520's. As you mentioned, both are musical but not as transparent or as clear as I like my speakers to be. Just my personal taste. I also might suggest the 2235B does not have enough power to open up the L-620's.

I also agree that Yamaha CR receivers are a nice pairing with the L-620. I ran mine with a CR-840 and was happy with the result. CR receivers tend to be bass shy and the L-620's easy accessibility helped to balance the sound. IMO, this is an example of two slightly imbalanced pieces helping each other.

I haven't heard the NLA yet but based on your review, I look forward to the day...
 
I am very sensitive to bad treble and have sold off many bookshelf size speakers due to being harsh. I find the NLA's to be just right, harsh only when playing inferior sources. They are a bit airier than the B&W and Bozaks I have had in their place, at first this could be heard as harsh I suppose. We are all different of course.

For grins I put felt around the tweeter on the baffle the size of the grill cut out. I run them in the normal position a half inch off a wall, no toe in. They are in my 2nd system and I cannot imagine replacing them at this time.
 
I ran a comparison between the New Large Advents, L-620s, and Dynaco A-25s through a Sansui 9090DB. I used a variety of music and the A-25s sounded the most complete to my ears. Followed by the L-620s and Advents.

In another comparison I matched the L-620s up to L-570 IIs, L-780 IIs and L-710s. The L-620s sounded by far the best, although the L-710s had more bottom end and was more specifically better suited with loud rock. The L-620s are excellent speakers, but I found them to be dependant on room placement to a degree.

All said... I sold all of the mentioned except the Large Advents. Because I liked their unique sound signature and because, I just like the looks. And also they seem to work very well with classical and jazz, especially off the Sansui's radio and that's what I mainly use them for. The one ADS speaker I still have are the L-8es. The best overall ADS I've heards so far.
 
I've used ADS L620 speakers with a Yamaha CA 2010 for thirty years. I think they need the heavier amp to get the honest 20 hz tones from the small woofers. I have the cheaper cabinets (bought them just out of college on a tight budget). I like them for rock, mostly. The L820s are better choice for jazz, etc. because of the mids. Great write up on the comparison.
 
I run NLA's with a Marantz 2275 and to me the combo is perfect, although it is mentioned in this thread a couple of times about the NLA's sounding "shrill" I'm just not hearing it. I suppose it could be the velvety Marantz but "shrill" is not a word I would use to describe the NLA's, just my 2 cents.
 
i have the newer NLA the 5012w refoamed and recapped
it has the soft dome tweeter.. i recaped useing Dayton Metallized Polypropylene caps.
and at first i found them to be a bit shrill only on certain occasions right after refoaming
but after time i think the lows and mids came more forward and the sound got more pleasing.
i also replaced the grill cloth and i think it tamed the highs a tiny bit because the material was not completely transparent.

i designed the grill cloth myself. they kinda have a marble/ice cream look
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3778533&postcount=91
(btw) useing Yamaha M-4 and C-4 as the pre/poweramp
 
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I'll have a shootout tomorrow with some polk monitor 10's, some NLA's and some ads L-880s...powered with a yamaha cr-2040.
 
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